New 180g Custom Planet Aquarium

[JPK_Esquire]

I think with the right animals in the right places that could be a strong composition. (just my opinion)
How does it feel to you?

Truthfully, there are some things I like and dislike about each of them. I personally probably like aquascape #1 the best. I like all the arches. However, (1) I am concerned about real estate for SPS across growing up (the arches come up past half-way), and (2) I don't like how uniform it looks (I.e., equal height both sides).

Aquascape #4 attempts to address that by making the left side quite a bit shorter (does not really show up in the picture because of angle) and flatter, which will allow for growth and depth front to back. I think #4 is probably going to be what I am going with. Glue is on the way. Here is hoping I don't change my mind in the next couple of days.

 

[JPK_Esquire]

Rough setup of the equipment rack that’s going to go inside the cabinet. The box represents about the size of the ATO reservoir and where it’s going to be in the cabinet compared to the boards. I plan to put some hinges on the right side where it connects to the back board, so it will swing to access the back of the board.

Some observations worth noting for anyone who may read this in the future:

1. Absolutely print or make templates and tape them up on the board. When I saw the space originally I thought “man, I have plenty of room.” Once you get them up there and start considering room for cables and plugs, you run out of real estate fast.

2. Similar to #1, make sure you consider sump placement and/or ato. I originally attached lower on the board, but had to move them when I realized they’d be covered up by the ATO reservoir.

3.Being my first time using eco tech pumps, I was surprised at how short the cord from the dry side to the driver is. I was originally going to put all MP40 drivers on the right side (where you currently see two). However, there is no way the cords and drivers would reach from the dry sides of the pumps on the other side of the tank. Also, the dry side and driver are connected, which means if you’re hiding cords one of those two pieces has to pass through a hole, or under, or over a side. I am going to cut a small notch on the end for mine, and the other two MP40 drivers (for the pumps on the other side of the tank) will be mounted on the side wall of the cabinet on the opposing side.

 

[JPK_Esquire]

So the tank arrived and was setup Monday. Been busy at work so I haven’t had time to give a deep posts on all the hiccups that occurred. Nevertheless, we’re finally setup cycling. I’ll post this weekend with a bigger update in the install. Until then, enjoy this picture.

 

[Dj City]

Very nice set up!
Im glad you are happy with your scape. I'm loving the stand and canopy. I'm looking forward to you posting details on how you got to this point and I can't wait for future pdates.

My 180g is now set up and cycling. It's amazing the unforeseen issues you wind up running into.

 

[Dj City]

We are still cycling huh?

Slooooow and steady wins the race.

 

[JPK_Esquire]

We are still cycling huh?

Slooooow and steady wins the race.

Cycling is going well. I added another round of ammonia this morning. Struggling with low ph (7.7) and low salinity (33). I know ph will come up when the lights come one, but still would like it closer to 7.9 before turning the lights in and before adding fish. I read that the beneficial bacteria will use alkalinity so will drive ph down. I’m going to continue to watch it and see what happens.

 

[Dj City]

For Ph just open a window. or run a airline tube from your skimmer to outside if you have that option.
It helps greatly!

 

[JPK_Esquire]

So cycling was predominantly done in Wednesday last week (still .25 nitrites, but that could be due to testing error).

The first round of fish (Flame Angel, Coral Beauty, Sailfin Blenny, and Regal Angel) were due to arrive Friday. I’m buying them quarantined because I don’t know anything about that. Package arrived via FedEx and all of the angels were DOA. I think it was probably FedEx because the bags for the flame and coral beauty had no water in them and the box was soaked. The Regal still had water in it, but he was a goner. The vendor was great and is replacing them all, and is hand-delivering to me in Dallas. Bit of a bummer, but it allowed me to move the clownfish pair I had in my Biocube over and they can kinda test the waters (so to speak) before I put four completely new (not cheap) fish in. So far they’re doing good.

 

[JPK_Esquire]

Clowns are still doing well. Replacement first round fish will be here next week.

Latest issues have revolves around the UV sterilizer. Below is a link to a discussion regarding UV issues.

Pentair UV Killing Flow

For those of you following along at home, I finally got around to bucket testing various scenarios, and think I have arrived at a conclusion for the pressure loss. If you didn't read the original post, I am using a Sicce Syncra Silent 5.0, which allegedly provides 1321 gph. I am running 24" of...

www.reef2reef.com

Going to try increasing the flow through the sump to see if that helps, or alternatively running the return from the UV into the return section of the sump. Originally I was concerned that this may cause overflow concerns, but any additional amounts should just flow backwards into the other chambers (slimmer and refugium).
I’ll update with the results.

 

[Dj City]

How's the build coming?
It's been a while since I've checked in.
How's the uv?

 

[JPK_Esquire]

How's the build coming?
It's been a while since I've checked in.
How's the uv?

Hey man, thanks for following up and checking in. I was thinking I should do an update. I turned the LED lights on (4x Kessil A360x in an AquaIllumination T5-Hybrid Fixture) about three weeks ago. After originally running them at about 50% max intensity for about 12 hours a day (ramping up and down during the day), I pulled them back to make adjustment for how it was heating the water, and the temperature has pretty much stabilized. However, now that I am running lights during the day, I am finally entering the ugly phase (5 months in) where I am getting algae growth on the sand and rocks. KH, Ca, and Mg. are all staying fairly stable. Nitrates (20-30 ppm) and Phosphates (.17 ppm) are running a little high (contributing the algae growth) so I am running some GFO in a BRS dual reactor with Carbon. Been doing weekly 20 gallon water changes, but may do another today or tomorrow to try to get the Nitrates down a bit.

Currently the tank is stocked with: two Clowns, Six-line Wrasse, Bangai Cardinal and Yellow Tang (all from my prior BioCube), I also have a Sailfin Blenny that I purchased for this tank. The other three I originally purchased for the tank (Regal Angel, Coral Beauty, and Flame Angel), all died. Regal never ate once introduced to the tank. Coral beauty I think was bullied by the Flame Angel. Flame Angel was doing great until I added the Yellow Tang, which I think bullied the Flame Angel (the Flame Angel was doing great, but I went away on a long trip and he died while someone else was taking care of the tank).

New arrivals coming in the next week: Yellow Tang (a new one that is going to replace the current yellow tang that is being removed, such that there will only be one yellow tang), Purple Tang, Hippo Tang, Kole Tang, replacement Flame Angel. Thought is to intro all at the same time (flame angel included) to reduce aggression. All are aquacultured (I.e., tank-bred).

Perhaps the most disappointing has been the UV. I have at this point pretty much given up on the current UV. Its still plumbed (currently diagonally in front of the Sump), but the lamp isn't on. Side note: I figured out it was not the UV causing the micro bubbles, but the siphon breaks drilled in the lock lines off the returns. LFS install did not drill them below the water line and thus I was getting micro bubbles and lots of noise. Right now they're plugged, but I have the returns high enough that the water in the display can drain into the sump and below the return lines completely, thus alleviating (I think) the need for siphon breaks. Anyway, with the UV: (1) I still can't get enough flow (only getting about 460 gph through the UV, and (2) the UV DOES increase the temperature over the course of a day. I gave some though to maybe getting a new return pump (Ecotech L2), but I am not sure my 1" drains could keep up with that and the other return (I.e., the 1" drains could not keep up with 1400 gph). I am considering maybe getting the AquaUltraviolet 25w, which is rated for a tank up to 150g, which would be obviously a little under-sized, but I could run a little more flow then the suggestion to hopefully help. I have a question out on #askbrs to see if this would work and no response yet. I'll try to post a picture later today.

 

[Dj City]

Hey man, thanks for following up and checking in. I was thinking I should do an update. I turned the LED lights on (4x Kessil A360x in an AquaIllumination T5-Hybrid Fixture) about three weeks ago. After originally running them at about 50% max intensity for about 12 hours a day (ramping up and down during the day), I pulled them back to make adjustment for how it was heating the water, and the temperature has pretty much stabilized. However, now that I am running lights during the day, I am finally entering the ugly phase (5 months in) where I am getting algae growth on the sand and rocks. KH, Ca, and Mg. are all staying fairly stable. Nitrates (20-30 ppm) and Phosphates (.17 ppm) are running a little high (contributing the algae growth) so I am running some GFO in a BRS dual reactor with Carbon. Been doing weekly 20 gallon water changes, but may do another today or tomorrow to try to get the Nitrates down a bit.

Currently the tank is stocked with: two Clowns, Six-line Wrasse, Bangai Cardinal and Yellow Tang (all from my prior BioCube), I also have a Sailfin Blenny that I purchased for this tank. The other three I originally purchased for the tank (Regal Angel, Coral Beauty, and Flame Angel), all died. Regal never ate once introduced to the tank. Coral beauty I think was bullied by the Flame Angel. Flame Angel was doing great until I added the Yellow Tang, which I think bullied the Flame Angel (the Flame Angel was doing great, but I went away on a long trip and he died while someone else was taking care of the tank).

New arrivals coming in the next week: Yellow Tang (a new one that is going to replace the current yellow tang that is being removed, such that there will only be one yellow tang), Purple Tang, Hippo Tang, Kole Tang, replacement Flame Angel. Thought is to intro all at the same time (flame angel included) to reduce aggression. All are aquacultured (I.e., tank-bred).

Perhaps the most disappointing has been the UV. I have at this point pretty much given up on the current UV. Its still plumbed (currently diagonally in front of the Sump), but the lamp isn't on. Side note: I figured out it was not the UV causing the micro bubbles, but the siphon breaks drilled in the lock lines off the returns. LFS install did not drill them below the water line and thus I was getting micro bubbles and lots of noise. Right now they're plugged, but I have the returns high enough that the water in the display can drain into the sump and below the return lines completely, thus alleviating (I think) the need for siphon breaks. Anyway, with the UV: (1) I still can't get enough flow (only getting about 460 gph through the UV, and (2) the UV DOES increase the temperature over the course of a day. I gave some though to maybe getting a new return pump (Ecotech L2), but I am not sure my 1" drains could keep up with that and the other return (I.e., the 1" drains could not keep up with 1400 gph). I am considering maybe getting the AquaUltraviolet 25w, which is rated for a tank up to 150g, which would be obviously a little under-sized, but I could run a little more flow then the suggestion to hopefully help. I have a question out on #askbrs to see if this would work and no response yet. I'll try to post a picture later today.

Now THAT'S an update!

The UV running at that slow flow would raise the tall temp so I'm not really surprised.

As long as you've had the tank running without light, I'm expecting your. "Ugly" phase to be abbreviated somewhat.

My ugly phase included dinos. Thankfully they were beaten (I hope).

I forget. Are you running your uv with a dedicated pump or off a manifold?

 

[JPK_Esquire]

Now THAT'S an update!

The UV running at that slow flow would raise the tall temp so I'm not really surprised.

As long as you've had the tank running without light, I'm expecting your. "Ugly" phase to be abbreviated somewhat.

My ugly phase included dinos. Thankfully they were beaten (I hope).

I forget. Are you running your uv with a dedicated pump or off a manifold?

Don't scare me by saying your ugly phase included Dinos. Dinos clobbered by BioCube. I could not beat them. I have been super careful to make sure none of it hopefully came over to the new tank. It is also part of the reason I am fine letting PO4 and NO3 run a little high to hopefully combat Dinos arising.

I've tried running the UV just about every way friggin way possible. Originally plumbed off one of the returns (Neptune COR20), then I tried to run it off a dedicated Sicce pump pulling out of one sump chamber, and then back into another. Problem there was the 3/4" input and output restricts flow such that I couldn't get enough flow from the independent pump. Currently, its plumbed off the return pump, but again the lamp isn't on. I've also though about potentially plumbing it as a closed loop with an external pump.

 

[Dj City]

Closed loop with dedicated pump is best.
I used a jeabo DCP 15000 and 1 inch plumbing.
I was able to get correct flow with this configuration. No heat issues.

 

[JPK_Esquire]

Closed loop with dedicated pump is best.
I used a jeabo DCP 15000 and 1 inch plumbing.
I was able to get correct flow with this configuration. No heat issues.

So bacteria blooms out the butt lead to another attempt at the UV. And...you guessed it, dedicated pump (Sicce Syncra Pro 5), closed loop, with 1” tubing. It’s not pretty, but I’m hoping just temporary.

PO4 and NO3 dropped to zero about 2.5 weeks ago, so flipped off the skimmer and started dosing NeoPHOS and NeoNitro. Everything of course swung the other way over the next two weeks (PO4 up to .9) killing all the SPS. PO4 was .2 this morning 48 hours after restarting the skimmer.

I can’t tell if my PO4 reading are accurate, or they’re being thrown off by Algae. Hopefully, the UV will help. I dosed first shot of Vibrant Monday as well.

 

[Dj City]

It keeps you hopping.
This hobby is full of "stuff" to contend with.

I still go through the occasional bacteria bloom and my UV is still not the way I want it to be.

Everything is a work in progress.